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Nathan MacKinnon
| birth_place = Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada | height_ft = 6 | height_in = 0 | weight_lb = 182 | position = Centre | shoots = Right | team = Colorado Avalanche | league = NHL | draft = 1st overall | draft_year = 2013 | draft_team = Colorado Avalanche | career_start = 2011 }} Nathan MacKinnon (born on September 1, 1995) is a Canadian ice hockey forward who currently plays for the Colorado Avalanche of the National Hockey League (NHL). Nathan was selected first overall by the Colorado Avalanche in the 2013 NHL Entry Draft. In his draft year, he was named Most Valuable Player of the 2013 Memorial Cup tournament. Playing Career Early Playing Career Nathan grew up playing in the minor ice hockey system of Cole Harbour, Nova Scotia. As an atom aged player, he recorded 200 points in 50 games. When he was twelve and thirteen years old, Nathan played Bantam AAA for the Cole Harbour Red Wings, recording seasons of 110 and 145 points respectively. After these two seasons, Nathan enrolled at Shattuck-Saint Mary's in Faribault, Minnesota. He chose to leave his hometown and attend the Minnesota boarding school because of the strength of its ice hockey program. In his first season at Shattuck-Saint Mary's playing with the Bantam Tier I program, he scored 101 points in 58 games played to finish second in team scoring. For the 2010–11 season, Nathan joined the Under-16 Midget program at the school. Despite being the team's second youngest player, he was averaging more than two points a game and was second in team scoring at the midway point of the season. During the season, Nathan was named to the team that represented Nova Scotia in the ice hockey tournament at the 2011 Canada Winter Games. At the tournament, Nathan scored eight goals and eleven points to finish fourth in tournament scoring as Nova Scotia finished in seventh place. He finished his second season at Shattuck-Saint Mary's with 93 points in forty games played, and was second on the team with 45 goals scored. Junior Playing Career Heading into the 2011 Quebec Major Junior Hockey League (QMJHL) Draft, Nathan was widely regarded as the favourite to be selected first overall and was ranked by QMJHL Central Scouting as the best available player. Despite this, Nathan spent the day of the draft skating with the Omaha Lancers of the United States Hockey League (USHL) as he was considering playing either college ice hockey in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) or major junior ice hockey in the QMJHL. On June 4, 2011, Nathan was selected first overall by the Baie-Comeau Drakkar in the 2011 QMJHL Draft. Because he does not speak French, there was speculation that MacKinnon would follow through with his option to play in the USHL until he was eligible for the NCAA, unless his rights were traded to a different QMJHL team. On July 13, 2011, Nathan's rights were traded to the Halifax Mooseheads for Carl Gélinas, Francis Turbide, the Mooseheads' first round draft picks in 2012 and 2013, and the Quebec Remparts' first round draft pick in 2013, previously acquired by Halifax. The Mooseheads had been attempting to acquire Nathan since Baie-Comeau was awarded the first overall pick in the 2011 QMJHL Draft. He scored his first QMJHL hat-trick on December 3, 2011, scoring five goals in a 6–4 victory over the Quebec Remparts. In a league of 18 and 19 year olds, Nathan was only 16 years old when he accomplished this. The opposing coach for the Remparts was his current coach with the Colorado Avalanche, NHL Hall of Famer Patrick Roy. With five goals in one game, he tied the Mooseheads record for the most goals in a single game held by Jason King. On May 26, 2013, Nathan led the Mooseheads to their first Memorial Cup championship, scoring a hat-trick in the final game against the Portland Winterhawks his second hat trick of the tournament. He was also named Most Valuable Player, scoring a tournament-best seven goals and six assists in four games, and earned a spot on the Tournament All-Star Team. NHL Career On June 24, 2013, leading up to the 2013 NHL Entry Draft, head coach Patrick Roy of the Colorado Avalanche who owned the first overall selection, stated publicly that his team would select Nathan if the draft were held then, despite widespread speculation that the team was likely to select Seth Jones who grew up in Denver. "It would be tough for us not to take MacKinnon," Roy told ESPN The Magazine. Roy also refused to rule out trading the pick. On June 26, 2013, Avalanche director of amateur scouting Richard Pracey said during a conference call that the team had Nathan in their sights. "As of today, we're leaning on Nathan MacKinnon," Pracey said. On June 30, 2013, the Colorado Avalanche did indeed use their first overall pick in the draft to select Nathan. On July 9, 2013, Nathan was signed to his first NHL contract, a three-year entry level deal with the Avalanche. He made his NHL debut on October 2, 2013 becoming the youngest hockey player to ever dress in a regular season game for the Colorado Avalanche franchise, registering two assists in a 6 - 1 Colorado victory over the visiting Anaheim Ducks. On October 12, 2013, Nathan scored his first NHL goal against Michal Neuvirth of the Washington Capitals during the second period at the Verizon Center. During the season, Nathan's role increased, as he was placed on the top two offensive lines. He claimed his first NHL record in becoming the youngest player to record back-to-back two-goal games from January 4-6, 2014, beating Dale Hawerchuk's of the original Winnipeg Jets from 1981. He later complied a 13-game point streak from January 25, to March 6, surpassing Wayne Gretzky (who turned 19 during his first season) to have the longest scoring streak by an 18-year-old in NHL history. Nathan finished the regular season appearing in all 82 games and led all rookies with 24 goals and 39 assists for 63 points. He became just the third player in the NHL to record seven points in his first two playoff games with a goal and six assists in the first two contests against the Minnesota Wild in the opening round of the 2014 Stanley Cup playoffs. On June 24, 2014, Nathan won the Calder Memorial Trophy for the rookie of the year, becoming the youngest player to ever win this trophy and third in Avalanche history behind Chris Drury and Gabriel Landeskog. He was subsequently selected to the NHL All-Rookie Team. On February 22, 2015, Nathan recorded his first career NHL hat trick on February 22, 2015 in a 5-4 win over the Tampa Bay Lightning becoming the youngest player in Avalanche history to record a hat trick. International Play }} Nathan's first experience with Hockey Canada came when he was named to the Canada Atlantic team for the 2011 World U-17 Hockey Challenge in Winnipeg, Manitoba. Despite being the second youngest player at the tournament, Nathan scored five goals and eight points in only five games to finish seventh in tournament scoring. This included a game in which he scored two goals and two assists to be named player of the game as Canada Atlantic defeated Finland 4–3. His impressive play helped Canada Atlantic to its best finish since the 2005 World U-17 Hockey Challenge, defeating Canada West 2–1 in the fifth place game. The following year, he was named to the Canada Atlantic team for the 2012 World U-17 Hockey Challenge in Windsor, Ontario. On December 13, 2012, Nathan was named a member of team Canada for the 2013 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships along with Mooseheads teammate Jonathan Drouin. At the 2015 World Championships (where Canada won the gold medal for the first time since 2007 with a perfect 10-0 record), he finished the tournament with 4 goals and 5 assists. Career Statistics Regular season and playoffs International Category:1995 births Category:Colorado Avalanche players Category:Colorado Avalanche draft picks Category:Halifax Mooseheads alumni Category:Canadian ice hockey players